1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to devices for spreading salt, sand, and other particles over a surface such as a street or sidewalk to melt ice and snow and for use as a friction (anti-slip) agent.
2. Description of the Prior Art
When snow and ice are problems on streets and highways, trucks spread sand and salt. The trucks usually use a rotating spreader which flings off particles of sand or salt with centrifugal force. Such centrifugal spreaders have a limited range, and are not suitable to be adapted for hand-held use because the rotating member would hit the user's legs and would need to be held away from the body in an awkward and tiring position.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,719 to Nordin discloses a stationary sand spreading device which uses pressurized air to drive sand out of a directed nozzle at the bottom of a cylindrical hopper. The air is fed to the tank from a pressure tank at up to 200 psi. Despite the dangerously high pressure, the sand is likely to jam in the nozzle throat because of the walls of the hopper converge toward the nozzle. The Nordin device is not portable, and could not be made so because of the large air tank required, which must be thick and strong-walled to withstand the high pressure.
In order for a spreader to be portable, it must be light; and to be light, it must be supplied with energy from an outside source (for example, through an extension cord) or must carry energy in a form which is light in weight (such as gasoline). However, this is not disclosed in the prior art.
The prior art does not disclose a hand-held or portable sand or salt spreader, nor does it disclose any blower which is adapted to spread salt, absorbent particles, friction agents, or the like.